


Signs From A Feather

by EdinaSaunders



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 05:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11098080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdinaSaunders/pseuds/EdinaSaunders
Summary: With Robin gone, Regina is alone. Henry as always, does his best to support her. Even though Robin's gone, he's still watching over her too. He'll show her that even without him, she isn't alone.





	Signs From A Feather

Regina hasn't stopped playing with the feather that came from Robin Hood's arrow. She kept it in her coat pocket when she went out, held it when she was bored in meetings, and just stared at it when it seemed like there was nothing better to do. This moment was no different. She turned it over and over carefully in her hand as she walked down the street. She mesmerized herself with the simple repetitive motion, which is why it jarred her so to have the keepsake blown out of her hand with a sudden gust of wind.

  
Regina's heart sped up in a panic, yet she did not move. She couldn't. To her, it felt like she lost him all over again. Only, if that's what she thought, then why didn't she run after it? She couldn't say. She was too numb to even react to it, so she stood there, frozen. Her hand hadn't moved from the position it was when the feather left her. She hadn't taken another step since she saw it disappear. She hadn't even turned her head to see where it had gone.

  
Her heart skipped a beat when Maleficent entered her line of sight. To see someone so close to her made her refocus. She looked at Mal and met her blue eyes that portrayed sympathy. Neither said a word. Mal looked away from Regina's eyes. She could see all the hurt in them as if Robin had been taken from her just minutes ago, instead of months.

  
Then, Mal slipped the feather into Regina's still frozen hand. She slowly helped Regina close her hand around it, so it wouldn't float off again. Regina's eyes followed every move Mal made, until finally she was able to move again. When Mal had removed her hands from Regina's, she was able to lower her hand and tuck the feather in her coat pocket.

  
Though she hadn't asked Mal for an explanation, Mal had offered her one. "It blew across the street. I recognized it as yours when it landed in front of my feet. I know how much it– and he meant to you. When I saw you over here just, well, I knew you would miss it."

  
Regina's eyes filled with tears as Maleficent spoke to her. She was also shaking; not enough to be noticed, but just enough that she could feel it. She needed somebody to steady her if only for a moment. This is what led her to the surprisingly quick action of throwing her arms around Mal in a hug.

  
Mal stood her ground, though the force of Regina rushing into her was enough to knock her back. She was surprised Regina had done that, and it took her a moment, but she returned the sentiment and allowed Regina to cry on her shoulder for however long she would need.

  
When Regina had run out of tears to cry, she backed out of Mal's arms, thankful to have a friend there at that exact moment. She looked at the ground, almost ashamed of her outburst. She glanced up at Mal, and was met with a warm smile. Mal placed her hand on Regina's shoulder. "Take care, Regina."

  
Mal walked off, looking over her shoulder to make sure Regina would be okay. At the very least she was walking again. She hoped she was walking home.

  
...

  
Most days now, the loss of Robin hadn't effected her so drastically, but yesterday, losing that feather, even for a short time, brought things into perspective. She felt better today than she had then, but she needed help. It was too much to deal with the loss of Robin and her duties as mayor. She needed time to cope with him being gone, but she had just been ignoring it as she tried to keep up with running the town. She needed an assistant.

  
There was no one she trusted more to get her an assistant than Henry. When she suggested it to him at breakfast, he was more than happy to be assigned the task. "Oh, and mom," he had said to her, "maybe you shouldn't carry the feather all the time. Maybe you could put it somewhere special."

  
Regina nodded, and sat the feather on the kitchen counter. "I trust you'll find a spot for it." She smiled, though it was a little forced and then she left the room.

  
Henry sat there for a while looking at the feather his mom left. He'd have to find the perfect place for it. Somewhere she could see it often, but not so much that she'd be constantly reminded of what it signified. He sighed. Maybe he should handle the assistant thing first.

  
That wasn't coming to him any easier. He looked at the feather once more. "Robin," he said to it, "who would you want to be her assistant?" He hadn't expected an answer, but the feather flew off the counter and in the direction of the door. Intrigued, since Henry hadn't used any magic on the feather, he followed.

  
Opening the door, the feather continued on its flight and Henry ran after it. He chased it down the street and landed outside the door of Mr. Gold's shop. "Gold," Henry asked, now questioning the feather's abilities. He bent down to pick up the feather and when he stood back up with the feather in his hand, Mal walked out of Gold's shop. Henry smiled at her when he realized the feather's intention was to her and not Gold. "Hey, Maleficent, how would you like to be my mom's assistant?"

  
Mal looked at Henry quizzically. Henry decided he probably should offer more of an explanation. "She could use someone to help her handle some of her work. She'd teach you everything you'd need to know."

  
"I'll do it if she wants me to. I'd help your mother any way I can. She's a wonderful woman and I know she's hurting."

  
"Thanks. She's at her office now if you want to go today."

  
"I will go and pay her a visit." Mal smiled and went off in the direction of the mayor's office. 

  
When Mal arrived outside the door of Regina's office, she knocked softly. Regina had her back to the door, so even the soft knock was enough to startle her. When she saw it was Mal, she waved her in.

  
"I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to startle you. Henry said you needed help. I don't know how he found me, but I'd like to help if that's what you want."

  
Regina's heart was still racing as Mal spoke. She hadn't thought Mal had startled her that badly. "Yes, I could use the help, and if Henry chose you, I'm sure you're the right choice." Regina smiled warmly and silently begged her heart to return to normal.

  
She introduced Mal to her work, got her familiar with the office and got her to sort some files. She was good. She put everything in chronological order, like Regina told her to, and she did it with surprising quickness. She was right to trust Henry. He had done a great job. The only thing left was to ask him where he was going to put the feather from Robin's arrow.

  
Shortly after Regina sent Mal home for the day, Henry walked into her office. "Mom, I know the perfect place to put the feather." He got in his backpack and pulled out the feather that was now floating in a snow globe. "I had Gold use magic to get it in here. I thought you could sit it on the corner of your desk."

  
Regina smiled. "That's lovely, Henry. I'm glad I trusted you with this. No one could have done it better."

  
"And what about Maleficent?"

  
Regina's heart skipped a beat. "What about her?"

  
"Is she going to be a good assistant?"

  
"Oh, yes. She's perfect, or, uh, she's good."

  
Henry smiled at her. "Ok, mom. See you at home."

  
...

  
The next day, Regina went to her office early. She sat at her desk in the quiet, looking at the new addition to her desk. She picked up the globe and twirled it around in her hand. "Robin, will I ever have another chance? Will I ever find–"

  
Regina's sentence was cut short when the inside of the globe gleamed with a purple light. This was followed by the opening of her office door. Along with being a good worker, it seemed Mal was also punctual.

  
"Good morning, Regina," Mal said.

  
"Good morning," Regina said back. She watched Mal saunter up to her desk in her smart grey suit and her high heels. The purple inside of the globe had gotten brighter. Regina pretended not to notice and sat it back on the corner of the desk.

  
The workday was productive with Mal taking some of the work off of her. The only time she saw Mal distracted from her task is when she had been watching her as she went about the office looking for a form she was supposed to fill out. She looked in the bottom of the file cabinet and felt Mal's eyes on her.

  
Sure enough, when she looked up Mal had been watching her. She straightened up after being bent over the drawer full of paperwork and asked Mal if she had filed the paper she was looking for. Mal responded by getting up, sliding open the top drawer, reaching to the back and pulling out the exact form she had been searching for.

  
"Thank you," Regina said, graciously taking the paper from Mal. Her hand brushed against Mal's as she took the paper. Once again her heart seemed to race, but it was only a short time until it returned to normal.

  
Again, Regina dismissed Mal about an hour before she planned to leave herself. With the door closed and Mal out of sight, Regina turned her attention to the globe that held Robin's feather. It had stopped glowing. The purple was gone and the globe was clear, with the feather hovering in the middle. Maybe it reacted to magic. Mal had magic, but then again, so did she, and it didn't seem to be reacting to her.

  
Regina couldn't think about it. It would only confuse her, and upset her. So, she stuffed it in her purse and went right home, instead of staying like she planned. She might ask Henry about it if she felt up to it. From the first moment she walked in the door at home, Henry knew something was bothering her. "Mom, what is it?"

  
"Henry, you can always see right through me," Regina said, instead of telling him what was wrong.

  
"Mom," Henry insisted, "I'm not letting you avoid this."

  
Regina sighed. "It's the globe, or the feather. I'm not really sure what's causing it."

  
"Causing what?"

  
"It glowed. Purple."

  
She stopped speaking, but Henry knew that wasn't all. "Mom," Henry prompted.

  
"It was Mal. She set it off or something. I don't know what it means."

  
"Huh," Henry mused.

  
"What? Do you know something?"

  
"I wouldn't say I know it, but I do have a suspicion. When you left the feather with me, I asked Robin who your assistant should be. The feather took off and I followed it right to Maleficent."

  
"You did?"

  
"Yeah. Mom, I think Robin might be, uh, setting you up."

  
"With Mal? I mean, we're friends, but I–"

  
Henry stopped her. "You did say she was perfect yesterday."

  
Regina remembered that she had. She also remembered trying to cover it up. Then there was her racing heart. Had it been giving her away? Was Henry right? Was Robin somehow trying to set her up with Mal? It did seem that way. First, the feather blew from her hand, and Mal returned it to her. Then Henry says it led him to Mal when he was looking for an assistant for her. Now it glowed inside of the snow globe when Mal was in the room.

  
"Mom?" Henry's voice broke her from her thoughts. She looked at him. "Call her and invite her to dinner or something," he said.

  
Regina nodded. "Okay," she agreed and went to the phone. Henry smiled and left her to talk. "Mal? Hi. Would you come over? I'd like to try something."

  
After having cleared up to Mal that she wished her to come to her home and not the office, Mal agreed and they hung up. Regina took out the globe and sat it on the table. She started at it for a while, eventually noticing a slight tint of purple appearing. Deciding to test it, she went to the door. Mal was walking up the path to her door. So it was her that set it off.

  
Before she welcomed Mal, she shouted for Henry to come down from his room. As she greeted Mal, she heard Henry's footsteps when he came down the stairs. "Henry, I'd like you to sit in front of the snow globe with your back to us."

  
"Okay," he replied, confused, but he did as she said.

  
"Mal," Regina began, speaking quietly. She took her hand and gingerly intertwined their fingers. Mal reciprocated as she smiled at Regina. This was reminding her of the first time they met. "You've been there for me since Robin passed. You were there before I even knew Robin. I can't say Tinker Bell wasn't right. He may have been my soulmate, but maybe he wasn't my true love. I think, maybe, it was always you."

  
At this, Mal put her hand under Regina's chin as she had so long ago, but this time she hadn't backed out. This time, she kissed her as she should have the first time. Maybe things would have been different. Or maybe not. It didn't matter now. All that mattered in this moment was that it felt right. So exquisitely right.

  
"Mom, what's happening? There's red mixing with the purple. Mom?" Henry turned around, just catching Maleficent as she released Regina from the kiss. His question answered, Henry grinned and slipped out to head back up to his room.

  
Still holding onto Mal's hand, Regina went over to the snow globe, seeing that Henry had left. She saw the red and the purple as they swirled together around the feather. Slowly the colors faded, leaving the shape of a heart before disappearing altogether. It appeared that Robin had succeeded in his mission. Whatever magic the feather had was gone, having served its purpose. Regina could start a new chapter, and as she squeezed Mal's hand, she fully believed she was ready for it.

**Author's Note:**

> I take requests! (Both on here and on my tumblr.) 
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: requests-imagines.tumblr.com


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